Bagasse fumace



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. M. J. L. MARIE.

BAG-ASSE FURNACE.

No. 254,351. Patented Feb- 28, 1882.

UNITED STATES:

PATENT OFFICE,

i MARIE JEAN LEON MARIE, OF sr. PIERRE, MARTINIQUE, WEST INDIES.

BAGASSE-FU RNA C E.

SPEGIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent hlo. 254,351, dated February28, 1882.

- Application filed October 29, 1S81.- (No model.) Patented in FranceJune 9, 1879.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, MARIE JEAN LEON MARIE, ofSt. Pierre, Martinique,West Indies, have invented an ImprovedBagasse-Furnace;

and I do hereby declare that the following is preferably'of cast-iron,on account of its low cost and durability, and is incased in brickwork.It possesses considerable advantages over other furnaces in use, beingimproved in form and working, and provided with an inclined fire-grate,and a self-acting feeder for spreading the fuel uniformly upon thegrate.

The working of the furnace is characterized by, first, the preliminarydrying of the fuel; second, the embodiment of the principle Elevation oftemperature is a function of the rapidity of combustion third, perfectcombustion of the gases, due to the form of the furnace and its'hightemperature fourth, perfect natural draftinsured through the grate bythe self-acting feeder; fifth, great savingof labor in stoking.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood, I haveillustrated two examples ofit in the accompanying drawingsthe one afurnace constructed of cast-iron in several parts to facilitate itserection, and the other a furnace built in brick-work, with castirongrate, doors, and hopper.

Sheet 1 represents the type of furnace employed for heating boilerswhich are not built in brick-work and have an internal fire-placesurrounded with water. The furnace represented in this sheet is incasedwith fire-bricks or other fire-resisting material. In this sheet Figurelis a front elevation of the furnace, and Fig. 2 a vertical section ofthe same. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the side next the boiler to which itis to be connected, the dotted lines indicating the front of the boilerwith which the furnace is used and Fig. 4 is a horizontal section.

In these figures the same letters of reference indicate the same parts.

The bagassefurnace is constructed of a castiron casing made in fourparts, a b 0 d, united by flanges and bolts. with ribs 0, and furnishedwith a door, f, on a level with the upper end of the fire-bars 9, whoselower ends are supported bya cast-iron bridge, h, bolted on extensionsof the side walls of the furnace. The back plate, d, has a flangedopening or throat, k, which fits in the doorway of boiler or furnace towhich the bagasse-furnace is connected, the form and dimensions of thisthroat being varied according as circumstances mayrequire. Theb'agassefurnace has a pyramidal crown of cast-iron surmounted by ahopper, m,'through which the fuel is fed into the furnace, the saidhopper being furnished with a self-acting balance door or valve, n, keptclosed by a counter-weight, 10, so that the draft through the grate isre- The front plate is cast stored immediately after each fresh quantityof fuel is fed into the furnace.

Sheet 2 represents the type of furnace intended to be applied to boilersset in brickwork, or for sugar-evaporating pans heated by anaked fire.(Labat apparatus or copper-wall battery.) This furnace is built ofbrick-work and has cast-iron doors, grate, and hopper lined or not withsheet-iron. Figs. 5, 6, and 7 of this sheet show respectivelylongitudinal and cross sections and plan of furnace applied to'a'sugarevaporatin g apparatus.

As shown in Fig. 2, the application of this type of furnace presents nodifficulties. The bagasse-furnace should be arranged as nearly aspossible in line with the sugar-evaporating pans or copper-wall battery,or with the boiler to be heated, the door of the bag-asse-furnace beingplaced at the side, if necessary.

The flues should be contracted as much as possible, in order to utilizeall the heat of the flames,especially when bagasse direct from the millis burned. A good result is obtained in an apparatus already constructedby erecting small bridges r in the positions represented.

Having thus explained the construction of the apparatus, the details ofwhich may, however, be varied, I will proceed to describe its working.

The drying or stoving of the wet cane-trash is the most remarkablefeature of this bagassefurnace. It would seem paradoxical at first sightthat a furnace placed outside of a boiler could have greater heatingpower than one inside the boiler; but as cane-trash in the wet state inwhich it leaves the mill will not burn freely, it will be seen that bysubjecting it to a preliminary drying it is rendered eminently fit forfuel, and this is effected by my improved bagasse-furnace. A fire havingbeen first lighted in the furnace with some dry fuel, thesidesbecomehighly heated. The wetcane-trash is then fed in through thehopper, the self-acting balance-door in which opens, spreads the fuelupon the grate, and immediately closes again, thus re-establishing thenatural draft through the grate. The flame of the burning fuelimmediately envelops the fresh fuel, and, owing to the high temperaturein the furnace, the gases at once begin to be distilled. The sameresults are, I admit, obtained more or less with internal furnaces, butas their surfaces never exceed the relatively low temperature of thesurrounding water, (about 150 centigrade,) the unconsumed gases arecarried by the draft away from the furnace, become condensed on thecooler surfaces, and pass away unconsumed in the form of dense smoke.

The combustion inmy improved furnace is much more perfect, as its sidesare as hot as the flame itself, (1,000 centigrade at least-,) and allthe calorie which would in the former case go to heat the water isstored up in the furnace casing, which quickly acquires suflicient heatto almost instantly dry the canetrash and render it fit for burning. Asall the gases, whether in ignition or not, are compelled to pass throughthe contracted throat leading to the fire-place of the boiler to whichthe bagasse-furnace is applied, an intimate mixture of the gases iseffected, which insures the combustion of any as yet unconsumedproducts. The whole of the fuel is thus utilized, and the furnace,although exterior to the boiler, is yet sufficiently near to transmit agreater amount of heat than that obtained by the imperfect combustion ofthe'same quantity of fuel in an internal furnace. Owing to the perfectcombustion thus obtained, there is little or none of the usual depositin the boiler-tubes, caused by the condensation of essential oils, tar,and otherunconsumed matters combined with soot.

One man can manage at least three of these furnaces, whereas an ordinaryboiler requires two men working alternately and for not longer than twohours at a time. In case it is required to burn coal in thebagasse-furnace, should the supply of cane-trash run short, the parts ofthe bagasse-furnace most exposed to the heat may have a fire-bricklining to protect the walls of the furnace against the greater heatdeveloped when coal is used. This lining may cover the whole internalsurface of the bagasse-furnace, if necessary; or it may be constructedwholly of fire-bricks. For boilers having verylarge fire-placessuch asthose in sugarhouses-my bagasse-furnace may be placed inside the boilerfire-place instead of outside, as above described.

The advantages of my improved furnace are, first, a saving of fuel;second, stokin g is almost entirely obviated; third, steam is raisedmuch more quickly; fourth, the production of steam is increasedaccording to the size of the furnace; fifth, the smoke is entirelyconsumed; sixth, littleor no deposit in the boiler and tubes; seventh,complete utilization of a waste material which is often an encumbrance;eighth, simplicity of construction and working; ninth, it may be readilyadapted to all kinds of boilers or furnaces, as well as to the whole ofthe boilers in the works, whereas with fur: naces having an artificialdraft it is necessary to have at least one ordinary furnace-boiler todrive the fan; tenth, preservation of the boiler-plates, which, notbeing exposed to direct contact of the fire, are not corroded by thedecomposing action of the sulphides contained in the coal.

I claim In a bagasse-furnace, the combination of the door-plate 0b, theside plates, 1) c, the plate 01, having flanged throat 7c, the fire-barsg, the bridge h, the crown -piece 1, and the'valved hopper m, allarranged substantially as shown and described.

MARIE JEAN Lton MARIE.

Witnesses:

BELLE ISLE OO UERAN, HENRY SAMUEL LYNcH.

